The Spawn
by Unknowner
Summary: Zim's son finds out about his -true- origins... FINISHED.
1. Life as usual

The Spawn  
  
An IZ fic of sorts  
  
By Unknowner  
  
AN: I don't own Zim. Jhonen Vasquez does, so don't sue me! Oh, and Nickelodeon is evil.  
  
Zed smiled as he stared out over the white-capped surf.  
  
"C'mon, ya scnabcrabbin' rookies! There's waves to be caught!" Not bothering to wait for his companions to get their wet-suits on, he charged into the ocean with his longboard. He never needed a wetsuit, anyway. All water seemed warm to him, and tingled slightly. He smiled as the familiar sensation flooded in, and started to paddle furiously. The first surf of summer.  
  
Shibby.  
  
Gaz hummed to herself as she chopped peppers for the chili she was preparing. Two days left. Two days, and your son will know the truth. I wish I could tell him now. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed deeply.  
  
But will he be ready for it?  
  
"Hey mom!" Zed burst into the seaside condo's kitchen, dripping slightly. He shook out his greyish mane of hair and headed for the fridge.  
  
"Hello yourself. Five hours of surfing, and the first thing you do is jet to the fridge?"  
  
He grinned insanely. "Hey, catching waves builds an appetite."  
  
"I have news for you." Gaz smiled slightly and leaned against the counter.  
  
Zed leaned out of the fridge. He knew that tone of voice. She only used it when she was  
  
About to drop a bombshell.  
  
"Dare I ask?"  
  
"Your father's coming home on Monday." Zed's crimson-centered eyes widened, and his jaw scraped the floor. His dad, the ambassador? The guy he hadn't seen since he was five? The mystery man he had weekly phone conversations with? It couldn't be!  
  
"There's more. He's bringing your Uncle Dib with him."  
  
"Dad? But... I thought..."  
  
"Yeah, I know. Actually, he'll explain everything when he gets here."  
  
"Will we have to pick him up at the airport?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"The docks, then?"  
  
Gaz smiled a bit. "Trust me, Zed. Your father knows how to make an entrance."  
  
The corners of Zed's mouth twitched as he headed back for the beach.  
  
Hm. Probably a helicopter, then. 


	2. Arrival

The Spawn  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Chapter Two  
  
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!  
  
Zed sat shock upright in bed, squinting. "Stupid freakin...." He slammed down on the alarm clock's snooze button and lay back down. For about ten seconds, all was bliss and silence.  
  
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!  
  
Not even bothering to get up, he punched the top of the clock. There was some audible rattling from within the ancient clock's innards, then silence.  
  
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!  
  
"EYAAAAAARGH!" Zed promptly grabbed the clock and flung it across the room, ripping the plug out of the wall. The flimsy 1980's by-product wasn't meant for such abuse, and exploded into a pile of smoldering rubble. Squinting horribly, Zed wandered into his closet, pulling on the same thing he always wore- blue jeans and a sweatshirt with a "S?" logo on the front and the words "Question Sanity" on the back. He wandered down to the fridge (as usual) and plucked a note off the front. It was from his mom.  
  
"Zed,  
  
Yakamoto's in town. He wants to go over the specs for Zombie Hog Slayer Anthology. I'll be back around 3:00. Your dad should call before noon, be sure you get it.  
  
-Mom."  
  
Zed's eyes slowly opened. His mom's job as lead game designer for Gorsoft was time consuming, but it gave him access to top-secret stuff. He opened the fridge and pulled out a few slices of bread, some leftover chicken strips, and glopped Ranch dressing over the whole sandwich. The other good part was that when she was gone, he could eat things that would make her gag to see.  
  
RINNNG!  
  
"H'lo?"  
  
"Hey Zed!"  
  
"Dad! On your way home?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute or so."  
  
"...really?"  
  
"Yeah. Hey, turn on CNN. The president's about to make an important announcement."  
  
Zed blinked and flicked on the kitchen TV. Sure enough, President Gulianni was on, about to make a speech.  
  
"My fellow Americans, I come before you with an announcement that many have waited years for. Ladies and gentlemen, we are NOT alone in the universe."  
  
Zed's jaw scraped the ground- almost literally. "Dad... you knew about this?"  
  
"You could say that."  
  
"But... how?"  
  
"Look outside."  
  
Zed set down the phone and walked out onto the porch. It was pretty foggy, and hard to see... at first. Then, he saw it. Several brilliant turquoise beams of light shot out of the gray, coming from...  
  
A spaceship.  
  
A huge, longish transport, a peculiar blue in color, and dropping. Fast.  
  
Zed screamed and dove into the house as the craft slammed into the sand nearby, sending up a cloud of grit. Cautiously, he poked his head out, in time to see a large, round portal open, and a ramp come down. From inside, two figures appeared. One was obviously human, clothed in a long black overcoat and amber sunglasses, pale and thin. The other wasn't like anything he'd seen before, a slim, tallish green being, clad in a strange blue armored outfit, with pure red eyes and antennae. He appeared to be holding... a cell phone?  
  
"You know, Zim, you could've FIXED the gravity field BEFORE we took off."  
  
"Aw, shaddap, Dib."  
  
Dib? Zed slowly stood up and walked out onto the porch.  
  
"Uncle Dib?"  
  
"Hi, Zed. Um... I know this is kind of a shock... but... I'd like you to meet your dad." The alien waved sheepishly- and Zed promptly passed out. 


	3. Awakening

The Spawn  
  
By Unknowner (as always)  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Zed sat bolt upright in bed. How long had he been out? And… wait. It was all a dream. Wasn't it? He glanced around. Everything seemed norm-  
  
"HIIIIIIII!"  
  
Zed screamed as something grabbed onto his head. Then he paused. It was- laughing?  
  
"Squishysquishysquishy…. heeeheheeee!"  
  
He slowly pried his assailant off and examined it. It was a smallish grey and cyan robot, with a cylindrical head and huge eyes. It was then that Zed realized that it wasn't a dream… his dad was…  
  
"Whoa."  
  
"Awwwww… what's wrong?" The tiny form tiled his head to the side and hopped up on Zed's shoulder.  
  
"Nothing. Just…"  
  
"Master said you migh have some problems after you woke up."  
  
"Master?" At this the robot leapt to the floor, his eyes and chestplate turning a brilliant crimson.  
  
"THE GRAND HIGH COUNCILMAN AND AMBASSADOR TO THE PLANED SOL-3, ALSO KNOWN AS EARTH, LORD ZIM!!!!" The color of the robot's eyes shifted back as he added "But you can call him `Pop'."  
  
Zed let this digest for a minute. There was so much he wanted to know…  
  
"Is my dad here?"  
  
"Yes- waitaminit- no."  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"You were napping for a long time. He left for a date with your mom."  
  
"Is anyone else here?" The robot shrugged, producing a faint squeak.  
  
"Thanks- wait, what's your name?"  
  
"Master calls me GIR, but my Yahoo name is MongooseDog!"  
  
"Um… Okay. I'll… talk to you later." Zed walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found his uncle Dib sucking down a cup of coffee.  
  
"Hey, Zed! You're finally up."  
  
"Uncle Dib?"  
  
"… I guess you're pretty confused."  
  
"Got that right."  
  
Dib sighed. "Sit down. I guess I'll just start from the beginning…"  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Zed sighed deeply. "So my dad was an incompetent invader."  
  
"Yeah. He turned into a revolutionary when he found out the truth about his so-called mission."  
  
"And he's been off liberating Irk since I was a baby?"  
  
"Most of the time. You know those software conventions your mom goes to?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"She only goes to about half of `em. The rest are just excuses to get away with your dad for a weekend or so."  
  
Zed paused. It was all beginning to sink in. "So let's recap. My dad's an alien, my mom jet-sets around the universe on an annual basis, and my uncle- say, why were you on Irk?"  
  
"I'm the US ambassador."  
  
"Oh. So… how did mom and dad get together, anyway?"  
  
"That's kind of a long story."  
  
"I've got time."  
  
  
  
Review, plz! 


	4. Growing

THE SPAWN  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Chapter Four  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Invader Zim characters are owned by Jhonen Vasquez, or Nickelodeon, I'm not sure which, Skittles is owned by Mars/M&M, I have no idea who owns Ruibik's Cube, and I own Zed and Gidj. Thankew.  
  
"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! I'M HIT! MY SHIELDS ARE DOWN!" Zim screamed as the viewport began to fuzz out, his instruments blinking madly. His last thought before his fighter erupted into the nearby asteroid was that he should've scanned for an ambush beforehand. There was a quiet beep as the "GAME OVER" screen popped into view.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
  
"Face it, Zim, you just can't beat me. That's five games in a row!" Gaz smiled that half-cocked smile that Zim always hated, the one that screamed "I just beat you five games in a row at Omega Deathstar Bloodbath 2020 and you didn't". Or something like that.  
  
"PATHETIC HUMAN! You will NEVER beat the glory that is ZIIIIIIIM! Two out of three!"  
  
"Six out of eleven."  
  
"JUST PLAY!"  
  
Gaz sighed. "Zim, you're making too many basic mistakes! Each time you go in, you act as if you're going up against a rookie in an unarmed lifepod."  
  
Zim's eyebrows arched. "What? Whaddayamean?"  
  
"Let me show you. HEY IGGINS!" Gaz screamed over at the arcade attendant, a bloated fellow with eyes that seemed to pop out of his skull with every sugar-fueled scream.  
  
"Yes, oh worthy opponent less skilled than meeeeeeeeee?"  
  
Gaz grunted. She whupped him daily, but he still acted superior. "Play Zim. I wanna show him something."  
  
"What's in it for meeee-eeeeee?"  
  
"I'll play the winner."  
  
"DEAL!" The acne-ridden bulk slid into the pilot-pod across from Zim's. Gaz rolled her eyes and leaned up against the cockpit, peering at Zim's screen.  
  
"Hey Gaz..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why are you helping me?" Gaz paused, then shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"Well... besides me, you're the best gamer here, and that's really kinda sad. I want a real challenge. Besides, we're friends, aren't we?"  
  
Zim blanched. He had become a regular at the arcade known as Captain Tumor's Radiation Zone, and sort of a rival to Gaz since there was nothing to do after school, and he could finish his homework in ten minutes, tops... but... friend...  
  
"Yeah. Thanks."  
  
Gaz smiled, not a cocky, evil grin, but an actual show of happiness. "Alright, you're coming up on the asteroid field. Now w-"  
  
"EYAaaaaaaa..rrrrrrrrGGGGHARRRRG!" Zim cried out in sudden pain, clutching his sides.  
  
"Zim? ZIM! What's wrong?" Zim didn't answer, as he collapsed out of the machine and staggered away quickly, with Gaz on his heels.  
  
"HA! I won, Gaz! Now you must face the unstoppable force of IIIIIII- GINS!"  
  
**************************************************************************** **************  
  
"ZIIIM!" Gaz screamed as her Doc Martins pounded the pavement. How did he get o far ahead of her? Didn't matter, she was near his home...  
  
And steel panels were closing off the door.  
  
Tucking into a ball, she tumbled underneath the falling sheet of steel, just as it slammed into the floor. Looking around, she saw...  
  
"Zim! What the heck is HAPPENING to you? Why did you run off like that.... Zim...?" Her expression softened a little, seeing the frail form writhing on the hideous couch. He tried to smile a little, despite the pain. Zim spoke, struggling for breath.  
  
"Sorry... just... didn't want... any.. one... to see me like... this..."  
  
"Oh, Zim... what's happening to you?"  
  
"It's... our curse... Gaz, you know... I'm not... human..."  
  
"Well, duh! I've seen all of stupid Dib's surveillance tapes!"  
  
"You see... it's... a growth spurt..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"For us... it's often lethal..." Gaz paused.  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"You see... Our insides change... completely... each time." Zim inhaled deeply, shuddering a bit. "It lasts a few weeks... comes in waves..."  
  
"Is there some kind of cure? A treatment?"  
  
"No... Our elders are... revered... for their height. It's... a hideous system... but..." Zim closed his eyes, succumbing to the agony. Gaz stood back sitting on the TV, thinking.  
  
"Hey, GIR!" The undersized robot dropped from the ceiling.  
  
"Yeeeeeeeessss?"  
  
"Do me a favor, okay?"  
  
"Whazzat?"  
  
"Could you make up a cot for me?"  
  
"Awwwww.... you gonna help master?"  
  
"You think I'd leave him in your hands?" Gir stared blankly.  
  
"I's gonna make some halibut waffles!" Gaz sighed, then walked over to her newfound patient.  
  
"Don't worry, Zim. I won't let you die this easily."  
  
**************************************************************************** **************  
  
Back in the kitchen, Zed rubbed his eyes. "So how do you know all this, anyways?" His uncle Dib had been rambling on for... jeez, three hours.  
  
"Hidden cameras, mainly. I even stuck one inside of Gir."  
  
"How the heck did you do that?"  
  
"It was hidden inside a rubber moose." Zed wisely decided not to ask.  
  
"So... why didn't I inherit these lethal... spurt... thingees?"  
  
"YEAH! WHY DIDN'T HE?" A voice squeaked out from near the window. Dib's head whipped around almost 180 degrees, to an undersized blonde with glasses peeking in from the hedges outside the window.  
  
"Um, Zed? Is this a friend of yours?" Zed groaned.  
  
"Yeah. This is Gidj, one of my surf buddies-" Gidj popped through the window.  
  
"And now, best buddy of an authentic half-alien person!" Dib took off his shades and cleaned them, a gesture that made him look surprisingly old.  
  
"Let me guess. Sugar rush?"  
  
"With Gidj, it's kind of a chronic ailment."  
  
"HEY! Just because I use smarties and skittles as breakfast cereal with Poop Cola doesn't mean I'm a sugar addict! I CAN QUIT ANYTIME, DANGIT!" Total silence reigned for a few seconds, until GIR walked in.  
  
"I'm gonna get a Brainfreezy, `kay?"  
  
"Okay, Gir. Anyway, like I was saying..." 


	5. Pain

THE SPAWN  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Chapter Five  
  
(Yet Another Author's Note: I don't own any characters inside this fanfic except Zed and Gidj, nor do I have any ownership over the Linkin Park song "Crawling", 7-11 stores, Fun-Dip, Skittles, Mike&Ike Zours, or Finland. I WILL own Finland someday, though! THIS I SWEAR! Also, a HUUUUGE thank-you to all that reviewed, and to KardLark, who's helping me with the romantic aspect of the story. Yer all great! Coming soon, I'll have a glossary of Irken Slang and Language posted. The first Irken word I created is in this chapter... guess what it means?)  
  
Zim's eyes slowly opened. The first thing he noticed was that he felt like he had been through a cuisinart. The second thing he noticed was that he LOOKED like he had been through a cuisinart. His skin was stretched thin, peeling, and generally coming off in a few places, revealing muscle and tendon beneath. Zim staggered to his feet, noticing that his pants were now more like shorts, and his shirt was missing. He shuddered.  
  
"This... this isn't... natural."  
  
"No kidding." Gaz had just walked in, carrying a bowl with some sort of thick, sweet-smelling fluid in it. "I brought you some soup... you might want to get back in bed."  
  
"Yes." Zim slowly hunched over to the couch that served as his sick bed, gazing up at the pale angel before him.Her eyes were half-closed in that way that looked like she was squinting, and her hair was a wreck. His eyes traveled south to the floor, picking up a gray and black striped shirt that was rumpled from sleeping in it, black jeans and boots... a bit rough around the edges... and crunchy in the middle... but still, an angel to him. "How long have I been asleep?"  
  
"Two days." Gaz straightened her shirt and set the bowl down beside him. "That makes six in all."  
  
"Six? I only remember one..."  
  
"You've been hysterical when you were awake. Delirious." She slowly picked up a spoonful of hot liquid and blew on it. "Come on, you have to eat."  
  
"Er- I don't eat most human foods..."  
  
"I asked the computer. It said you like Fun-Dip, so a made you a kind of dip-broth." She lowered the spoon to Zim's mouth, and he took a cautious sip.  
  
"Mmm! Cherry!"  
  
"I'm glad you like it." Gaz stood up, and was opening her mouth to speak when she was interrupted by a loud burst of static and a booming voice from behind her.  
  
"PLEASE STAND FOR TRANSMISSION BY THE ALMIGHTY TAAAAAAALESTS!" The television was broadcasting the insignia of the Irken Empire, and had apparently grown a few cameras out of its sides.  
  
"Gaz! You have to go!" Zim hurriedly sat up.  
  
"What? I-"  
  
"Greetings, Zim! You almost dead yet?" Red beamed at him through the glass.  
  
"Wh-" Before Zim could speak, Purple interrupted.  
  
"In case you can't tell, this is your `pink slip'. Or, should I say... the rogue DNA in your system is. There's a reason Red gave you that sandwich, Zim. At the Great Assigning. It was a DNA-destructo-wich, our latest tool for planetary conquest! Oh, you have a chance of surviving... about one in a billion. But even if you do, you're... how did you put it, Red?"  
  
"Exiled until further notice. Which will not come. EVER. So don't bother waithing for it, loser-y looooser boy!"  
  
"Yes, thank you. Well, sorry I didn't get to see your corpse, Zim... Oh, and in case you survive, you'll be obliterated by the Slaughter-Drone we're sending to harvest the proteins and bacteria from this planet. See you in heck!" The monitor bleeped out, then exploded, leaving a very stunned Irken and a very pissed-off human.  
  
"Those... little..." With that Gaz roared a string of profanities damning the Tallest and all their nonexistent kin to an eternity wallowing in feces beneath the sewers of the underworld. After about twelve minutes, her voice faded into sobbing.  
  
"Gaz... it's okay..."  
  
"But they totally duped you! For all you know, you could be the laughingstock of the entire freakin' Irken empire!"  
  
"... Gaz... I don't really care anymore."  
  
"But-"  
  
"I mean it. I figured out that they didn't expect me to conquer this filthball... but it just made me more determined."  
  
"Why? What possible reason could you have?"  
  
"I didn't keep this up for them, Gaz. I did it to convince myself that I was still worth something... at first... but... you humans have been so great to me these past few years..." That was the truth. In High Skool, Zim had actually developed friends that liked him for who he was, not for his ranking or caste. True friends.  
  
Like Gaz.  
  
And he wasn't about to let those friends die.  
  
Not ever.  
  
Zim's eyes narrowed slightly, and he stood up. "No matter what happens now, Gaz, I will not let the Tallest win." He jerked his head back, yelling to the heavens. "YOU HEAR ME, YOU T'LORGH? YOU WILL NEVER TAKE THIS PLANET! NEVEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAGHllllrggggh...." Again, Zim collapsed, shaking uncontrollably. "It's... the big one..." The last spurt, the dreaded growth that was so often fatal, and always hideous. The worst kind of pain known to his, or any, race. The growth that the Tallest had harnessed in their newest genetic nightmare.  
  
"What can I do?"  
  
"Hold... on... to me... Gaz... and whatever you do..." Gaz's eyes flickered dark for a moment, lined with fatigue and frustration.  
  
"What, Zim, WHAT?" She shook him, trying to get a response.  
  
"Don't... let... go..."  
  
"...Zim..."  
  
  
  
She didn't.  
  
**************************************************************************** ************** 


	6. Confessions

THE SPAWN  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Chapter Six  
  
(Author's note: My. This is my longest chapter yet! Next chapter there's going to be a lot more stuff with Zed, trying to make sense of all this stuff that's happening to him. Anyhoo, all I own in this story is Zed, Gidj, Juan, and the recipe for Insta-Sugar High. All else was created by Jhonen Vasquez, King of the Indie Comics. The lyrics in this chapter are copyright Linkin Park. I decided to put them in, since I already added the disclaimer in the last chapter for no good reason.)  
  
  
  
Zim's eyes creaked open. Every part of his body ached terribly, and even his eyelids felt like they were on fire. It was then that two facts crept into his mind. First, that he was alive. Somehow, he had survived the final spurt. Second, that he was still in Gaz's comforting embrace. He didn't quite know what had happened, but it was nighttime, and Gaz was long since asleep. Gir was also asleep, in front of the TV, with MTV still playing. Zim gently removed Gaz's arms and got up slowly, the familiar post- spurt sensations flooding in. Geez, it had been years... ever since the post-pupa spurt that thrust him into service as an Irken soldier. A feeling like something was slithering beneath his flesh, combined with uncontrollable twitching and generic weakness in his limbs. The TV continued into a new song as he walked down the hallway.  
  
Crawling in my skin,  
  
These wounds, they will not heal  
  
Fear is how I fall  
  
Confusing what is real....  
  
The house seemed somehow different, as if he was in a dream. Admittedly, he wasn't up much at this hour, but... was it always so cramped at here? He groaned, slumping against the wall.  
  
There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface  
  
Confusing  
  
Consuming  
  
Zim slowly tried to pull himself up. Why wouldn't his legs support him? And... why was he so disoriented? What if... the spurt had caused too much damage...  
  
This lack of self-control I fear is neverending  
  
It's haunting  
  
How I can't seem...  
  
Again, Zim tried to steady himself... "Gir... help me..." No one answered.  
  
To find myself again  
  
These walls are closing in  
  
(Without a sense of confidence I'm convinced it's just too much pressure to take)  
  
I've felt this way before...  
  
So insecure...  
  
Slowly, Zim slumped to the floor, gazing at his legs. They were so thin... and the gaping wounds were still there. Why hadn't they started to mend? Was this some demented nightmare?  
  
Crawling in my skin,  
  
These wounds, they will not heal  
  
Fear is how I fall  
  
Confusing what is real....  
  
Again, the dizziness flooded in. Trying now to crawl back to the couch, Zim emitted a low moan and collapsed against the bathroom door, falling in. Zim's eyes shut as he hit the floor.  
  
Discomfort endlessly has pulled itself upon me  
  
Distracting  
  
Reacting  
  
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection...  
  
Zim stood up, his legs actually supporting himself this time. Opening his eyes, he saw an unfamiliar sight.  
  
His own face, reflected in the bathroom mirror.  
  
It's haunting  
  
How I can't seem  
  
It was very different from before. The chin was more defined, although covered with scabs and sores. A long, open scar now sliced from his forehead to his left cheek, under one eye.. and he was so gangly, so tall. Like some sort of withered corpse.  
  
To find myself again  
  
These walls are closing in  
  
(Without a sense of confidence I'm convinced it's just too much pressure to take)  
  
I've felt this way before...  
  
So insecure...  
  
Gaz's image appeared in the mirror, behind his own image. Her face spoke of some nameless emotion, perhaps vaguely related to fear.. or pity. He shuddered, leaning heavily against the sink (which was devoid of a faucet) and felt the wave of emotion hit. Joy, for his life. Fear, for the future. Shame, for his wraithlike form. The tears began to flow to his eyes, despite his weak efforts to hold them back.  
  
Crawling in my skin,  
  
These wounds, they will not heal  
  
Fear is how I fall  
  
Confusing what is real....  
  
"Gaz... why are you here?" Zim slowly turned his head to face the girl in the doorway.  
  
"I can't just let you linger and die, you know."  
  
"No... I mean... why did you come after me in the first place? Why did you stay all this time?"  
  
At this, Gaz paused. She wasn't quite sure how to put her finger on it... and even if she was, how the heck could she express it? She didn't even believe in l-  
  
No.  
  
She couldn't use that word.  
  
Not again.  
  
"I... I-" Gaz burst out the door with speed unlike any he'd ever seen. He staggered after her, as she ran into the backyard and up into the skeletal tree that had been planted by Gir (which was amazing, considering how it was about fifty years old and about the same number of feet high). Zim forced his failing limbs to work, to heft his pitiful form into the tree. It was so frustrating... but something within him forced him higher and higher, up to the perch where Gaz was resting, crying slightly.  
  
"Gaz... what's wrong? What did I-" Zim was interrupted by her loud sobbing.  
  
"It's not you, Zim. It's me." Zim scanned her face for any signs that would help him figure out what the problem was, anything at all.  
  
"C'mon. You can tell me." He moved his hand over hers, a small gesture, but a signifigant one. Gaz looked down at his hand, and then up into his deep crimson eyes.  
  
"You see... about nine years ago, my mother died." Gaz stopped here for about a minute, trying to compose herself. "It was from cancer. My dad worked as hard as he could on a treatment, and he even thought that he'd found one. For a while, the cancer went into remission, and everything was normal again... but it wasn't gone. It came back..." Gaz tried to hold back the tears, as she knew that when she started, she wouldn't be able to stop.  
  
"For a while I pretended to be my mom's nurse. I swore that we'd beat back the cancer like we did before... but she stopped responding to the treatment... she just slipped away..." Gaz let out a small whimper, like a drop of water trickling out of a corroding dam. "Dad just poured himself into his work after Mom died, never came back out. Dib... I don't even think he remembers her that well. He got hit on the head a lot in first grade..." Gaz couldn't take it anymore. She collapsed against Zim, sobbing.  
  
"Gaz..." Zim did his best to steady the two of them, and prevent them from falling.  
  
"I don't want that to happen again Zim... I don't want... to hurt like that... but I can't help it..."  
  
"What do you mean?" Zim was actually a bit confused at that.  
  
"Zim... I.... I think I... I th-" Gaz fell into uncontrollable tears. All of a sudden, the lights went on in Zim's head. He had been fooling himself, trying to make himself think that Gaz was just another human stinkbeast. But she wasn't. Not to him, anyway. He put one finger under her chin, lifting her face up from his chest.  
  
"Gaz... It's okay. I... I love you, too. It's gonna be all right."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"Promise."  
  
The sun slowly rose over the horizon, and Zim cracked a weak smile.  
  
  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** **************  
  
Back in the real world, it was about nine o'clock. Zed had gone to bed early to try and digest the day's events, Dib was busy making "important calls", mainly to people he knew in school who mocked him for his belief in aliens, and the psychotic blonde girl had taken Gir out after he had reported that he couldn't find anyplace to get a good drink.  
  
"And THIS, Gir, is where to get the best Brainfreezies in the city!" Gidj gestured grandly to the Twenty-Four Seven Minimart, where a glistening line of six syrup-laden frozen-confection machines beckoned with their icy doomy goodness.  
  
"YIPPEE! I NEEDS ME SUGAR!"  
  
"Wait, Gir!"  
  
"Nooooo! I need it or I will explooooooode!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"...That happens to me sometimes..."  
  
"Ah, patience, young grasshopper, for I will bestow upon you the finest sucrose laden liquids in the land!" Escorting Gir to the checkout counter, Gidj grinned broadly at the cashier, a tallish rastafarian with dreadlocks-aplenty. "Juan! Two Insta-Sugar Rushes, please!" The rasta looked away from the mini-tv on the counter to Gidj and her robot companion.  
  
"Well Gidj! I should've known you'd be the first to befriend an alien robot. What, just twelve hours after the announcement that they existed?"  
  
"Yeah, well Zed was the first... he's half alien himself!"Juan rubbed his forehead. any other day, this would have shocked him, but today it didn't seem out of place.  
  
"Let me guess... so are you?"  
  
"Nope! Allllll human! Kinda disturbing, isn't it?" Gidj cocked her head to the side and smiled.  
  
"You can say that again..."  
  
"So get my sugary goodness! My robo-buddy needs some!"  
  
"AND A MOOSE!" Gir giggled uncontrollably. Juan gave Gir a strange look.  
  
"Uh... Gidj, this city can barely stand you alone on a sugar high. I don't think-"  
  
"SILENCE, CASHIER BOY! I GOTS HAPPY MONEY WIT' DEAD PEOPLES ON IT! I NEEDS ME SUGAR, AN YOU'S GONNA GET IT FOR ME!" Gidj was gripping Juan by his collar, and had turned from a perky little squigglebug to a sugar- crazed junkie.  
  
"Er... It'll take ten minutes or so to make."  
  
"FINE! I WILL BE WAITING HERE IN DA CORNERY PLACE, AN' TALKING TO MR. STINKY MOP BUCKET!" Gidj was only "normal" when she had a precise sugar level in her blood, and at present it was declining rapidly. Only chaos could follow.  
  
**************************************************************************** **************  
  
Review, pleeeease...  
  
(Author's Buddy's Note:  
  
Well, gotta hand it to ya Unknowner, ya got the romantic parts down almost pat! And a word of advice, MORE GIR!!! MORE GIDJ!!!! MORE SUGAAAAARRRR!!!!!! You readers agree with me, ne? ~Kardlark~) 


	7. Ally

The Spawn  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Author's Note: I own very little in this chapter… only Gidj and Zed. Thanks to all those that reviewed chapters five and six: G.I.R.L., Lina, Red Moon Kree, Shibby, Mecha Tails, B, True Locket, Noname, Zek, Purple's Right Hand Girl, and Kim the Kenlei. You all get kewpie dolls!  
  
"Knock, knock." Dib walked into Zim's base without warning, catching him and Gaz on the couch. Gaz sprang up like a cornered lynx.  
  
"DIB! What the heck are you doing here?"  
  
"Relax, Gaz. I'm not going to try and expose Zim this time… or anything else."  
  
"…What?"  
  
"I know about everything. Look, Zim. If your people are going to be sending some kind of biomechanical destruction-machine to earth, we need to take it out. Fast." Dib seemed determined, in an odd sort of way that Zim had rarely seen. And for once, he wasn't snapping spy pictures. But… waitaminit….  
  
"Hey… how did you know about the Slaughter-Drone? If you've been tapping my communication lines again, SO HELP ME-"  
  
"Relax, Zim. I just have hidden cameras set up around here."  
  
"WHAT?" Zim turned a peculiar shade of orange.  
  
"Well, it was so easy to do…"  
  
"HOW THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT??!?!?!"  
  
"…you know those rubber squeak moosies Gir likes?"  
  
"Oh no."  
  
"Yeeeeeeeah."  
  
"Then…" Zim suddenly became pale, looking over at Gaz.  
  
"Look, I don't care if you two like each other now. I mean, it's pretty gross, but if you aren't gonna try to conquer the earth, I'm okay with it… for now…" Dib shot a suspicious look over at Gaz before continuing.  
  
"Now, what the heck is a Slaughter-Drone, anyway?"  
  
"Doom in a titanium-alloy shell."  
  
"Uh… could you be a little more specific?"  
  
"It's a five-foot tall, two-ton irkinid death machine, dedicated to OBLITERATING anything it touches, with a beam that slows down bodily functions so that it can capture a comatose being and revive it later… after it has harvested all genetic information."  
  
"…ouch."  
  
Zim smiled. Sure, the Dib-human was annoying… but now he was an ally. And he needed all the allies he could get.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********  
  
Soo… looking for the Gidj stuff, are ya? TOO BAD! Unless my buddy KardLark gets more reviews, NO GIDJ FOR YOU! Oh, and review this too, will ya? 


	8. Lucidity

The Spawn  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Author's note: Yay! I'm healthy again ^_^! Anyhoo, I don't own anyone but Gidj, Juan, and of course Zed. Thanks to all who reviewed- Chaya, Silverkitten, Mecha Tails, you all rock! I hope to have some people do art for this series so keep checking these A/N's.   
  
"Amazing! For an alien life-form, he's INCREDIBY human!" Professor Membrane stared at the slide of Zim's DNA through a microscope. He had to be the strangest person he'd ever seen, especially the way he kept twitching and putting so much dramatic emphasis on some words… but if he had battle armor that could help him against the Slaughter-drone, so be it. Unfortunately, he seemed intent on giving him a physical first.  
  
"The only difference I can spot between our species on a genetic level is that he seems to have evolved from an aquatic species of mammals." Dib laughed sharply.  
  
"Dad, water burns him! How the heck would his race be aquatic if they were scorched to death as soon as they were born?" Secretly, Dib was enjoying this. His dad now knew he wasn't insane… or just one of those UFO freaks that would believe anything.  
  
"Observe!" Membrane walked over to Zim, who was sitting on a wire-mesh examination chair. "Zim, this might hurt EXCRUCIATINGLY for a few seconds." Zim's eyes widened.  
  
"WhaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Zim was suddenly doused by hundreds of gallons of water from a high-pressure nozzle above him. After about thirty seconds, the professor turned off the valve. Dib stood in abject horror.  
  
"ZIM! Dad, what the heck did you do that for?!? If Gaz was here-"  
  
"Look!" Membrane gestured grandly to the shocked alien, who lay back in the chair- soaked and unconscious- then tossed a cold bucket of water over his head.  
  
"WHA!" Zim awoke with a start. "What the heck did you do that for?"  
  
"To awaken you, and prove my theory! The chemical in your skin that reacts with water accumulates over time, so when you were finally exposed to it after a lifetime of biological drought, WHAM! It burned you like a cheap hamburger! After that blast of water, most of the BURNING, ITCHING chemical was expended and washed out!"  
  
"… but why would my skin make a chemical that.."  
  
"That water is ICY COLD! Does it still feel warm to you?" Membrane was on a roll, and he wasn't going to let logic stop him.  
  
"…Yeeaaaah…"  
  
"EXACTLY! The chemical was a compensation for your lack of body fat, keeping your people toasty warm even in the ICY, FRIGID depths of your alien ocean!"  
  
"Uh… okay…" Dib backed away and climbed the basement steps to the house. This was going to last a while, and he had to eat sometime. Gaz was in the kitchen waiting for them.  
  
"Any progress?"  
  
"Nope. You know how Dad gets when he finds out some new scientific fact… you know, his obsession with perpetual motion, the time he made a time-travel device…" Dib trailed off. Something was bugging both of them… and he knew what it was. "Gaz… I know you like that guy… but he can't be trusted."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm serious, Gaz. All the time we knew him, he was trying to conquer the world. He's more dangerous than you know…"  
  
"Dib, his own leaders tried to kill him! I don't think he's going to turn on us!"  
  
"…Even so… be careful. I'm not going to let this guy hurt you." Dib grabbed a soda and slunk back down the stairs, leaving a fuming Gaz.  
  
"He'll show you, Dib. Wait and see."  
  
**************************************************************************** **********  
  
Juan walked out of the back room in a radiation suit, holding a pair of brainfreezy cups with a long pair of tongs.  
  
"Hrr ymm guuu" His voice muffled by the suit, his purpose was still clear. Gidj smiled.  
  
"Bottoms up, Gir!"  
  
She drank…  
  
**************************************************************************** **********  
  
Cliffhangers suck, don't they? R+R! 


	9. Preparation

THE SPAWN  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Author's Note: Life is good! All the usual disclaimers apply (if you didn't read `em in previous chapters, go and do that now) plus the new disclaimers: I have no ownership over Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Spider Man, Mr. T, Cheese-Whiz, Aerosol Butter, or Artie McWailen's House of Discount Prosthesis. Good luck finding all the references in this chapter!  
  
Finally, thanks to all that reviewed. You rock! Again!  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Zim awoke with a start. He'd fallen asleep again, much to his chagrin. Shaking his head, he picked up the arc-torch and went to his modifications on the battlesuits that Membrane had created. Not really bad, he had to admit, but not great either... decidedly inferior to Irken tech anyway. Even so, Zim was beginning to doubt the wisdom in not letting the professor come back to his home base with him, even just to help him on the development of the suits. Zim paused, leaning back. Gaz was the only human he'd ever let into his base willingly. Maybe... maybe it WAS time to start trusting them a bit more. After all, they'd been kind to him since the Spurt. Dib had even lent him some old clothes- and Zim had to admit, these "blue jeans" were almost FRIGHTENINGLY comfortable. But then again... the Invader's base was his home... his inner sanctum... the only place where he felt he could truly be at peace...  
  
"You really should've brought me down here last time." Zim spun around to see Gaz in the doorway to his humble lab, holding a plastic grocery bag. Sure, she'd been down there before... and it WAS kind of lame that he didn't have any games... but still, this room was kinda cool.  
  
"Gaz? What-"  
  
"Broughtcha a snack. Gir said you hadn't come up since you left yesterday."  
  
"It's already been a day?" Zim rubbed his eyes. It HAD seemed like it...  
  
"Almost two." Gaz sat down by the long counter, laden with its dozens of alien instruments, and pulled out a package of Airheads. Handing three to Zim, she tore open a cherry one and began munching on it.  
  
"So... is your dad still poring over my genetic code?"  
  
"Nah. He's moved on to some kind of gravity-cannon for us to use." Silence. Zim bit into his Airhead, staring at the floor. "So... is this what you've done so far?"  
  
"Hm? Yeah. You should probably try out the suit I made for you. The mental controls take some getting used to." Zim had been loathe to let anyone else face the Drone, but Gaz had always proven a fierce foe in combat... plus she had insisted. And you just didn't disagree with Gaz when she decided something, unless you wanted to lose an arm... or something...  
  
Gaz picked up the Hyper-Kevlanium-Omega (tm) weave suit, inspecting it closely. The padding was thin, but her father had insisted that it could absorb the concentrated energy from a nuclear blast (if not the concussion). A pair of energy guns of some sort were slung at the waist, and the armored gauntlets - the only bulky part of the armor aside from the boots- fairly screamed "hidden weapons here!" The odd backpack-like attachment that Zim had added was the most obvious change... the same kind of pack that she often saw spidery legs pop out of when Zim was fighting with Dib. Smiling grimly, Gaz unzipped the front of the suit- and blanched when she saw a line of metal portrusions along the back of the suit's lining.  
  
"What are these for?"  
  
"Mental uplink. It recieves messages from your nerves through your skin... like radio signals through a bedsheet." Gaz could say less for the analogy, but she got it.  
  
"Uh... you mind?" Gaz stared at Zim. He looked from her to the open suit... back to her... to the suit....  
  
"Oooooh. Okay." He walked out the door, letting her get changed in peace.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******  
  
"How does it look?" Gaz cracked a smile as Zim re-entered the room. The form-fitting suit was a royal blue, which set off her eyes quite nicely. Zim gave her the thumbs-up, pulling up a diagnostic screen on a nearby computer.  
  
"All right. The suit operates entirely through mental control. In essence, it becomes an extention of your body. First, you should try to feel it... become one with the armor..."  
  
"Skip to the good part, will ya?" Gaz was beginning to sound irritated.  
  
"Uh... okay... try to control the insect legs. They're folded up in your tool-pak." Gaz nodded, staring forward. Her brow knitted in concentration, and then, she leapt into the air.  
  
"INSECT-LEGS... ACTIVATE!" Gaz landed on the floor with a dull thump, still sans the cybernetic legs.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"Yeah. Lemme try it again." She closed her eyes. "Go, Legs!" Nothing. "Shazam!" Nothing. "Fly, secto-legs!" Stil nothing. Zim was hardly able to contain his laughter. He buckled over in his chair. Can't laugh. If I do, she'll kill me. If I don't  
  
"BWAHAAAaaa... HAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHa!" Zim fell over, giggling.  
  
"What's so funny?" Gaz pulled him up by his collar, her teeth grinding.  
  
"It's.. it's you- NO, DON'T HURT Meee... heheheeee... It's just... snicker... you're trying to make such a big DEAL out of it!"  
  
"Uh... I'm kinda trying to make SPIDER LEGS pop out of my BACK. I'd classify that as a big deal."  
  
"No! You've got to let it come naturally! Just- just relax, okay?" Gaz nodded, a bit frustrated, and closed her eyes. For a second, her face went blank. Then, out of the pack, a quartet of spindly legs popped out, hefting her near the ceiling. Gaz smiled.  
  
"Got it."  
  
Zim smiled, more than a bit surprised. It had taken him days to get used to the tool-pak, but Gaz was using them after only a few minutes. Before he could congratulate her, the peace was broken by the blaring of a klaxon.  
  
"WARNING! IRKEN SLAUGHTER-DRONE HAS ENTERED SOL SYSTEM! ESTIMATED TIME TO ARRIVAL: 45 HOURS." Zim's eyes narrowed.  
  
"I hope your brother takes to that thing the way you do, Gaz. We're running out of time."  
  
  
  
Gidj sucked on the Brainfreezy straw, a look of utter bliss on her face. She was in sugar-high-heaven. Gir had already finished off the `freezy, and was in the store picking up another one. He walked out, carrying another cup.  
  
"I got vanilla-cucumber!" Gir stared at Gidj, who was staring straight ahead, a plastered look on her face. "Awwww.. whatcha thinkin?"  
  
"Izabutterfly!" Gidj Grinned insanely. "Da clowns are trying to eats me brain! But m3 1z t00 l33t 4 d3m! ph33r m4 cut3 sk1llz! 1 p1ty d4 f00lz d4t n0 ph33r m4 sk1llz! |\/|y|\|0ck5!"  
  
"You talk funny." Gir's head lolled to the side.  
  
"GIR! WE MUST CONQUER THE PIDGEONS! THEY ARE DIRTY, DIRTY BIRDIES!"  
  
"I like pidgeons! And squirty dairy stuff!" Gidj's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Evil avian lover! I must destroy them all! THEY WANT MY LUCKY CHARMS! DEY IZ STALKING MEEEEE! I MUST FLEEEEEEE!" Gisj skipped off towards town, and Gir headed back to the house, sucking down the brainfreezy, a single thought in his tuna-filled head.  
  
"She's fun!"  
  
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	10. Destruction

THE SPAWN  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Author's Note: I'll cut to the chase, since this is a dramatic chapter. I don't own these characters, or the Linkin Park lyrics later in the chapter, but the plot and ideas are mine. Thanks again to all who reviewed. Praise, criticism, it doesn't matter. I enjoy it all. To those that haven't, pick up the special Nickelodeon magazine Nicktoons Special with Spongebob on the cover. Why, you ask? `Cuz Jhonen made an all-new 4-page Invader Zim comic for it! YAAAAY!  
  
The drone's brain activated. It slowly unfurled its arms, formerly fused to it's sides. The effect was much like seeing a meteorite sprouting limbs and glowering at you with a previously concealed head- and to the three people before it, was unnerving in an incredible degree. The drone registered none of this in its scans, though. It DID register that one of the forms was an irken, an enemy of the state, and that the other two were native earthanoids, brimming with microorganisms to harvest and mutate. All were armed, though nothing to compare with the drone's systems. It shifted its legs out from beneath it, as a lone command breached its mind.  
  
  
  
T E R M I N A T E  
  
  
  
"Look out!" The command came almost too late, as Zim dodged a blast from the Slaughter-Drone's stasis beam. His eyes narrowed as he leapt at the craggy mechanoid, only to be swatted away by a massive hand.  
  
The droid's single eye focused on Zim, as a deep, distorted voice boomed from the bowels of its throat.  
  
"1RK3N Z1M, J00 4R3 C|-|4RG3D W1T|-| |-|1G|-| TR3450N. J00 W1LL B3 D35TR0Y3D." Again, the light flared beneath its head where the muzzle of the beam cannon was located,but before it could fire the machine was rocked by a blast from behind.  
  
"GET AWAY FROM HIM! IT'S MY PLANET YOU'RE AFTER!" Gaz stood, clutching an elongated energy weapon of some kind. The drone shifted its gaze to her weapon, thenback to her. A sound much like chuckling emitted from the drone.  
  
"F00L15|-| W0RM. D1D J00 T|-|1NK D4T GR4V1TY W3AP0N C0ULD H4RM M3?" Gaz seemed almost nervous as she hefted the weapon, firing straight at the drone's head time and time again. "J00 S33? 1 4M  
  
T|-|3 3ND R3SULT 0F 430N5 0F R3534RC|-|, D4 PR1D3 0F D4 1RK3N 4RM4D4. J00 4R3 T045T. BUT F1R5T..." The drone swiveled to where Zim had been standing a moment ago, only to find...  
  
"HIIIII!"  
  
"W|-|4T?!?" The enormous machine staggered backwards as something small and metallic latched itself to its face. Gir simply giggled, bashing his head into the drone repeatedly.  
  
"I'm OZZAY OZBREATH! Heeeeeeead-BANGIN'!" Gir continued to bash the heck out of both his skull and the drone- and amazingly, he was taking less damage than the behemoth, until the inevitable happened. Something caught Gir's eye. He suddenly stopped his assault, staring intently at a heap of scrap.  
  
"Whazzat?" The drone didn't answer Gir's rhetorical question, as it was too busy trying to figure out what had happened to it's head. "Wait! Garbage leprechaun! TAKE MEEE WITH YOUUUU!" Gir charged off into the piles of whatnot, screaming at the frightened rats that he mistook for short irish elves. The drone, meanwhile, removed it's "head" and extended a secondary sensor cluster from its neck. He jerked around in staccato fashion, attempting to locate its targets, since it could not turn the optical sensor like it could with the primary sensor apparatus.  
  
"1RK3N Z1M! C0M3 0UT 4ND F1GHT L1K3 4N 1NV4D3R!" The drone was once again thrown off kilter by an explosion behind him- a missle of some sort. It swung around, seeing nothing. Another blast. The drone was largely unhurt, but was growing frustrated. Before another shot could land, the drone launched a barrage of shock-missiles from its back. The result was as desired. As he turned around, he saw the trio of fighters laying stunned near the smoldering rubble. The bestial machine charged its stasis beam- only to fire it into the air as Gaz leapt up on spidery legs, smashing the machine with a well-placed boot to the head. As it staggered, the other two defenders leapt up, strafing it with energy fire. Dib grinned insanely as he launched himself around his opponent, launching another barrage-  
  
only to be throttled by a massive titanium fist.  
  
DIB'S DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
Dib skipped merrily amongst the mini-moosies, which floated in the air in much the same way that bricks don't. He laughed, ohh, how he laughed, `cuz he had toes and the moosies didn't- but then they chewed on his head and made it all bitey.  
  
Then something blew up.  
  
END OF DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
  
  
Dib wrenched his eyelids open. He was-  
  
"HEY! When did I get pinned down? And where did Gaz go?" Dib looked around frantically. His spider legs were shattered, and Zim- ooh, he was in sorry shape. His armor was shredded, his tool-pack dismantled. He WAS conscious, but... apparantly unable to move beyond the twitching of his right leg. The slaughter-drone approached, a hideous probing appendage extended from its left arm.  
  
"Y0UR 51573R 15 M0R3 R351LL13N7 7H4N 1 4N71C1P473D. 5H3 W1LL B3 C4UGH7 1N 71M3." There was an odd whirring as the appendage stretched out, lancing towards Dib's brow. "M34N71M3... 1 W4N7 70 S33 WH47'5 1N51D3 7H47 H0RR1BLY D3F0RM3D H34D 0F Y0UR5. TH3 T4LL35T 4R3 QU173 K33N 0N P5YCH0L0G1C4L W4RF4R3 TH15 5E450N." Slowly, the pointy, pokey, probey thing extended closer and closer towards Dib's forehead- but just as it seemed the end was nigh-  
  
(A/N: I love action-movie timing! It's so convenient!)  
  
"NOT ON MY WATCH, ROBO-BOY!" Gaz screamed as she thrust the taser-spikes of her gauntlets deep into the armor on the robot's unguarded lower back. The drone roared in the electronic equivalent of pain, thrashing about horribly. "Why won't you die?! DIE ALREADY!" Gaz could've easily continued her tirade... had the machine (in a movement nearly impossible to describe) flexed its right arm around at an intensely improbable angle and wrenched her off its back, hurling Gaz into the battered hull of a 1964 Dodge Dart. She moaned softly, attempting to pull herself up, before the thick fog of unconciousness folded over her.  
  
"1N171471NG C4P7UR3." The drone's chest lit up with energy, as the muzzle of the stasis cannon once again lit up with its unholy energy. Gaz's eye opened slightly as the brilliant crimson beam enveloped her.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Zim and Dib's screams merged as one, as the prone form of Gaz fell to the ground, silent and unmoving.  
  
"You... twisted little tool." Zim had somehow made it to his feet, and was stalkng towards the drone like some sort of deranged zombie-movie hero. Dib pulled againt the wicket-like stakes holding him to the ground to no avail.  
  
What's he DOING? Does he even know he's practically commiting suicide?  
  
"You should've NEVER come here." Zim continued to advance, oblivious to the obvious danger. The drone seemed incredulous, scanning Zim a second time to confirm his readings.  
  
"J00 B3G1N 70 4NN0Y M3, Z1M. Y0UR D00M 1Z C0NF1RM3D." The drone raised its giant metallic arm, bringing it down with crushing force. Dib winced, unable to watch- but then slowly peeked, after the lack of an expected squishing, splatting noise. He couldn't believe what he saw. Zim was holding the titan's fist, easily the size of a Volkswagon, above his head with one hand. With a simple jerking motion Zim proceeded to rip the arm off of the drone, an action that was roughly equivalent to tearing a semi truck in half.  
  
"Game over, drone." Zim continued to approach, his eyes dead, his fists clenched.  
  
"WH4T 4R3 J00 D01NG? J00 4R3 N0 M4TCH F0R M4 4W3S0M3 P0W3R5! J00 4R3-" The drone was suddenly and permanently silenced by a fist driving through it's chest. The power light by the optical array slowly began to dim as Zim uttered the last words the machine would ever hear into it.  
  
"Tell the Tallest that they've just signed their own death warrants." The machine didn't answer, but instead  
  
produced a quiet droning noise as the power cut out, followed by a whir and whoosh of airr as a battered hatch opened and a tiny object launched into the night sky. Zim watched in silence as the trail of light disappeared into the inky black. "I'll be waiting for them."  
  
Meanwhile, Dib was watching what happened in utter awe. Having gotten one arm free, he slowly pried off his restraints.  
  
"ZIM! What WAS that thing?"  
  
"A message capsule, no doubt. It doesn't matter. We have more important matters to attend to." Zim bent over and gently lifted the frail, silent form of Gaz from the rubble, as he blinked away a lone tear.  
  
  
  
One thing, I don't know why  
  
It doesn't even matter how hard you try  
  
Keep that in mind  
  
I designed this rhyme  
  
To explain in due time  
  
All I know...  
  
  
  
The heart monitor sounded its slow, regular beat as Gaz lay on the hospital bed. The army had been eager to assist the warriors thanks to Professor Membrane, but it all seemed for naught. Zim gulped as he lay his hand on her cool arm, barely supressing a shudder.  
  
"Zim... what's the matter? I mean... she's just stunned, right? She's gonna snap out of it..."  
  
"Dib... the beam was only meant to keep a specimen alive until it could be harvested..."  
  
"You mean..." Zim nodded.  
  
"You humans are a hardy race, Dib. Maybe there's something I can do..."  
  
  
  
Time is a valuable thing  
  
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings  
  
Watch it count down to the end of the day  
  
The clock ticks life away  
  
So unreal...  
  
  
  
Zim hunched over his lab table, a sample of Gaz's biomatter in a petri dish. He squinted as he injected the cells with a peculiar cerulean liquid, then turned to his computer. His eyelids sagged, his hands twitched, and the musky air in the room suggested that he had not left for some time.  
  
"Day 18, experiment 1204- anti-stasis enzyme with subpolymer based delivery system- no effect." Zim sughed, turning back to his work. "But one of these will work. Soon."  
  
  
  
Didn't look out below  
  
Watch the time go right out the window  
  
Tryin' to hold on, didn't even know  
  
Just wastin' it all just to watch you go  
  
  
  
"Make way! Make way!" Zim screeched as he launched himself through the crowded hospital hallways, a tube of iridescent turquoise gel in hand. He burst into the smallish room, in time to see two doctors humming over Gaz.  
  
"Her heartbeat's slowing."  
  
"Hm. Shouldn't be too lo-"  
  
"NO! I have the treatment!" Zim sprang up to her IV, latching the tube into a junction.  
  
"What?! Who are you? Wh-"  
  
"Shut up, wormspawn! This is her only chance for survival!" Zim hardly noticed as Dib walked up behind him, setting his hand on his shoulder, as they watched the luminous liquid traverse the tubing into her veins.  
  
  
  
I kept everything inside  
  
And even though I tried  
  
It all fell apart  
  
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time-  
  
  
  
The heartbeat on the monitor blipped once. Twice. A skip. Then, nothing.  
  
  
  
I tried so hard  
  
And got so far  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't really matter  
  
I had to fall  
  
to lose it all  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't really matter  
  
One thing  
  
I don't know why  
  
It doesn't even matter how hard you try  
  
Keep that in mind I designed this rhyme to remind myself how  
  
I tried so hard  
  
  
  
"My tallests! A message has arrived from the slaughter-drone!"  
  
"Ooh! Set it up on the main viewer!" Red sat back, sipping on a Toovi-Kola, whilst a massive screen flipped down in front of them. He blinked as a mysterious armored figure appeared in the picture. Purple blinked.  
  
  
  
In spite of the way you were mocking me  
  
Actin' like I was part of your property  
  
Remembering all the times you fought with me  
  
I'm surprised it got so far  
  
  
  
"Wait... is that... Zim?"  
  
  
  
Things aren't the way they were before  
  
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore  
  
Not that you knew me back then  
  
But it all comes back to me  
  
In the end  
  
  
  
"Tell the Tallest that they've just signed their own death warrants." As the screen dissolved into static, the Tallest simply stared ahead. For one of the first times in their life, they are afraid.  
  
  
  
I kept everything inside  
  
And even though I tried  
  
It all fell apart  
  
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time-  
  
I tried so hard  
  
And got so far  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't really matter  
  
I had to fall  
  
to lose it all  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't really matter  
  
  
  
The funeral was really beautiful. Zim hadn't bothered to mingle with her family, even though they were trying to be supportive... even Dib, which was quite a switch. Still, he had mainly kept to himself. Now, he stared at the small tombstone, no longer able to suppress the tears which streamed down his face. His face turned skyward.  
  
"I'm... kind of new at this. Gaz always believed in something... beyond... this mortal form. I guess now... I've found myself believing in you too." He swallowed hard.  
  
  
  
I've put my trust in you  
  
Pushed as far as I can go  
  
For all this, there's only one thing you should know...  
  
  
  
"It's... tearing me apart." Zim sobbed, sinking to his knees. "I tried everything I could... and just like the rest of my life, it wasn't good enough. I let her die."  
  
  
  
I've put my trust in you  
  
Pushed as far as I can go  
  
For all this, there's only one thing you should know...  
  
  
  
"God... I loved her." Zim buckled over, kneeling with his forehead resting before the gravestone, weeping. "Please... help me..."  
  
  
  
I tried so hard  
  
And got so far  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't really matter  
  
I had to fall  
  
to lose it all  
  
But in the end  
  
It doesn't really matter  
  
  
  
Zim continued to sob for some time, turning his head sideways. Suddenly, his eyes sprang open.  
  
  
  
Ten minutes later, Dib scaled the small hill to where Gaz's gravesite was, and immeniately collapsed to his knees. What he saw defied description. There, where once was a grave, lay massive piles of freshly-churned earth. To one side lay a shattered gravestone, and a coffin lid, the inside covered with long scratched. At the bottom of the ditch sat two figures in each other's embrace- a sickly, pale girl with hands covered in splinters and an emotionally drained greenish alien.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******  
  
Author's note  
  
Well, that's it for the flashbacks. Just to clarify, Gaz wasn't quite dead- her stasis had just reached a point where her life signs couldn't be read. My beta reader didn't quite get that. Anyhoo, next chapter will be entirely Zed, Gidj, and the future debut of PROFESSOR MEMBRANE! So review this chapter, and get ready or the next capter 


	11. Back to usual Kind of

THE SPAWN  
  
By Unknowner  
  
Author's Note: Man, that took way too long to write. Sorry. Thanks to all my reviewers, and to all those that actually waited for the update! In legal news: Nick owns the show Invader Zim, but only we, the fans, can truly own him. By cancelling Zim and leaving his origins and future undefined, they've made Zim the ultimate fan property. So nyah to you, MTV networks! And awaaaay we go...  
  
Gaz sat on the porch, sipping at her Starbuck's coffee-flavored caffeine product and watching her son, perched on his surfboard out in the ocean. Zim walked out the door, clad in an outfit far more human than the Irken uniform he'd arrived in. The last night had been so nice... such an emotional release for the both of them. But now, he had some unfinished buisness.  
  
"How long has he been out there?"  
  
"Since before sunup." Gaz took a sip of her `coffee'. "He hasn't even ridden one wave. He just... sits there. I think it's his way of meditating... trying to work crap out. You know." She turned her gaze to Zim, who just smiled.  
  
"We've all been there. You played Tetris, Gir watches the Scary Monkey Show, I torture large insects..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Er.. never mind..."  
  
"You should really go talk to him." Zim's head whipped over to Gaz, his face pale.  
  
"What?!?"  
  
"He needs reassurance."  
  
"But... I-" He broke off abruptly. For a moment, the only sounds were the crashing surf and a few seagulls fighting over a discarded chunk of pesto bread. "You're right." Without another word, Zim yanked his sweater off, running into the surf. With an epic-looking dive, he submerged.  
  
-Pain-  
  
The only thing his brain could register. It had been so long... it felt as if he had been dunked in boiling nacho cheese, scalding and thick, sapping his strength. He forced his arms to move, to keep treading water. Despite cramps that threatened to paralyze him, his limbs continued an irregular rhythm, keeping him moving. Suddenly, what felt like an eternity later, the burning ceased, and a healing heat seeped in. Zim's eyes opened as his muscles relaxed, and he realized that he'd overshot Zed by a dozen yards or so in the fog of pain. Backtreading, Zim surfaced by his son's board, his squeedily spooch crying out for air.  
  
"Dad? What are you doing out here?" Zim coughed as he tried to talk.  
  
"I.. thought you might want to talk." Zed smiled slightly and extended a hand to help the drenched Irken up onto the board. "So what's on your mind?"  
  
"Nothing, really," Zed paused. "And everything."  
  
"I guess this is pretty confusing."  
  
"Not really. I mean, I'm still who I was a week ago, and so are you, but... I'm part extraterrestrial. Every conspiracy freak's dream come true. I mean, this has been hidden from me my whole life. I don't know whether to be mad, or insatiably curious, or... or what. I just... "  
  
"You want answers. Right?"  
  
"Exactly. I mean, Uncle Dib told me the story about how you and Mom fell in love, so I know how I got here... but I don't know much about being an Irken." Zim understood a bit. As a human, Zed had a background, a heritage. Now...  
  
"Don't worry about it. I think I can arrange something." Zim smiled oddly. "After all, I am the amazing High Councillor ZIM!"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, I'm going to have to travel to and from Irk a lot, and if you and your Mom want to..."  
  
Irk. An alien planet. And his home.  
  
"Okay..." Zed paused. He'd have to face himself sometime... ^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^- ^-^-^  
  
"SQUEEGEE FUNK! IT GROWZ IN MAH TOEZ- DOEZ IT SHOWZ?" Gidj stormed down the street, screaming. "POTATOEEEEES! WITH AN `E'! AL GORE'S SPELLINGE SYSTEME WORKEDE FORE MEE!!!" A crowd of bystanders crowded around, including a very familiar old geezer in a white lab coat.  
  
"What's wrong with her?"  
  
"...dear sweet god, NO!" Professor Membrane grabbed a clunky device out of his pocket. "I hope it's not too late..." $#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$ BEEPEEEPEEPEEPEEPEEPEEP~!  
  
Back at the house, Zed picked up a cell phone from the mid-80's. "Zed's phone, Zed speaking, speak to Zed."  
  
"Grandson! Your little friend is in the town, acting like a rabid spleen monkey!"  
  
"..so?"  
  
"Aren't you worried?"  
  
"She's always a little weird."  
  
"No! She-"  
  
"Is probably on a sugar rush. Chill, gramps. If I know Gidj, she'll run out of steam right about-"  
  
THUD  
  
"Now."  
  
"...She collapsed!"  
  
"Duh. When too much sugar is in the system, the pancreas takes over and eliminates all sugar in the person's body. It's called science. Try it sometime!"  
  
"..." The professor hung up.  
  
"So where were we, dad?" Zed continued staring at the ceiling from his sprawled position on the couch.  
  
"Right here." Zim mirrored his son's inverted pose on a recliner.  
  
"Oh yeah." Zed smiled. He was an alien. And a human. His dad was head of government over an entire galactic empire. And a complete goofball. And for now...  
  
He could live with that.  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: No, it's not over yet. There's one more chapter to go, more of a "wrapping up" thing than anything else. Oh, and Jennifer Gazzette was kind enouh to agree to do an illustration for Chapter 6! I'll post the URL next time! 


	12. Statement to abandon

* STATEMENT OF INTENT TO ABANDON STORY *  
  
Attn: All readers.  
  
Wow. You're still reading this.  
  
This was my first zimfic, and one of my best (which is why it actually got posted...) and I   
  
thank you for holding on this long. I originally intended there to be an epilogue, but...  
  
well...  
  
I'm lazy.  
  
Yeah, that sez it all.  
  
Well, enjoy my other stuff. After a long sabbatical, I'm back.  
  
~U  
  
( http://unknowner.deviantart.com ) 


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